


The King and The Thief

by Emily_F6



Series: Penny Parker Prompts [32]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Female Peter Parker, Gen, Penny Parker - Freeform, Royalty AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_F6/pseuds/Emily_F6
Summary: Prompt: Royalty AU
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Penny Parker Prompts [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899553
Comments: 4
Kudos: 139





	The King and The Thief

The first time he saw her, it was because he was in trouble. 

His uncle and King regent had warned him not to leave the palace unescorted. Had outright ordered him to make sure Sir Harold (or Happy, to Tony) was with him any time he left the palace grounds. But it wasn’t Tony’s fault that going out alone was so much more fun. Without the royal clothes and the royal escort, he could see his kingdom if it was. He could see his people, the people that lived in the kingdom that he was supposed to be running in a few short years, and talk to them. See how they were doing. See what needed to be done.

But when he went out with Happy, or even with his cousin, James, the people would move away from him. Avert their eyes. Give a quick bow and move away. Shopkeepers would give him free goods, and vendors would offer him the best of their fruits and pastries. All he wanted was to be treated like a regular person. But he never had been…not for the first twenty five years of his life, and he doubted he ever would be.

He was walking down the street, a hood over his head, giving quick smiles to the distracted people who rushed around, all with things to do and jobs to go to. He wondered what that was like…not that Tony didn’t have a job. He had a very important job, learning how to run his country and slowly taking power from his uncle when the man handed it out. But he didn’t know what it was like to have a life like these people..a regular life.

The hand that grabbed him took him by surprise, and he found himself being slammed against a wall in a dark alley, tripping and turning his ankle before a hand fisted in his cloak. When his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realized that he was staring into the face of a man holding a knife to his throat, pressing just hard enough that there was blood running down his neck. “I…” He stuttered, reaching for the blade he always carried, but he’d left it at the palace, not wanting to give himself away. 

“Give me your money.”

“I don’t have any,” Tony told him truthfully. He’d spent his last coin on a cider from his favorite stand, and hadn’t even brought enough for a pastry, still trying to figure out how much things cost in the everyday world. 

“Now you see, I don’t believe you,” the man snapped, knife pressing in deeper and Tony flinched. He wondered if he should tell the man who he was…risk surprising him and trying to fight him off without the knife poking him in the neck. 

“Let him go.” The voice was young, a girl’s voice, and both Tony and his assailant turned to find a hooded figure standing in the shadows. When she took a step forward, Tony could see the long brown hair pulled into a braid, with large brown eyes watching the man with the knife as she pulled out her own blade. And he knew, instinctively, who he was looking at. He’d heard her called “The Little Spider,” a street kid with an uncanny ability to evade the guards and whose knack for stealing and disappearing into thin air were legendary. He’d seen her face on wanted posters, and had heard stories about her climbing walls to escape his guards. 

And there she stood, blade in hand, eyes on the man who had let Tony go and who held his knife at the ready. “Beat it, you little shit. This one’s mine.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed, and then she seemed to move so quickly that she was a blur, ducking under his clumsy attempt to cut her and slicing his arm open. She wasn’t trying to hurt him, Tony realized, frozen in place as he watched the fight. The girl landed a kick to his knees that sent him sprawling, then, to his surprise, she sheathed the blade and looked up at him. 

“You should go, your majesty,” she suggested with a smirk, wiping the back of her hand over her face and it hit him that she was young. Very young. Maybe thirteen. Still, she didn’t stick around to see if he’d done as asked. Instead, she turned, stepping into the shadows, and when he shook himself out of his stupor, hurrying to follow and…and thank her or ask her questions or something, anything, she was gone. 

The second time, she was in trouble.

Once more, he wore his cloak, the plainest one he could find. James knew that he did this…he knew that Tony loved to sneak out. Knew that Tony wanted to know everything about his people. Wanted to be doing more to run his kingdom. So he turned a blind eye when Tony stole his cloaks. Tony was walking through the market, considering a pastry, when he heard the yelling.

“Stop! Thief!” 

He turned automatically, his hand moving down to the blade he always kept at his side, and managed to catch a flash..just a blur of a small figure racing into the alleys, followed by two guards. He didn’t know what made him follow. DIdn’t know why his feet automatically led him into the maze of alleyways and buildings. Following the sounds of the guards he kept his eyes peeled for the person in the cloak, feeling like he knew who it was. It had to be the girl. It had to be. The Little Spider. Then he heard a scream and he knew it was her. He knew it as he turned a corner and nearly ran into the guards who shoved past him, barely taking note of him, but he also knew that sh hadn’t come his way.

He looked around, then paused. There was blood on the wall. A trail leading up to the top of the building. He placed his hand against the wall, looking for a ladder, but didn’t see one. So he kept looking until he found a crate to stand on, then another, reaching up to the window ledge to start to pull himself up. His foot slipped, but he managed to find another foothold, and then another until he was finally able to pull himself up onto the rooftop, rolling ungracefully to his knees, then freezing with his heart in his throat.

The girl was laying on her back, eyes wide, mouth open as she wheezed, a hand clutching a loaf of bread in one hand, the other pressed to her side where a steadily growing red stain soaked her hand. He just stared for a moment, frozen in place as he watched her stare at the sky and gasp for air. Her eyes shifted then, turning and meeting his, and he forced himself to take a step forward, then another before scrambling to her side. The bread in her hand crumbled when she made a fist, making a tiny, pained whimper as a tear ran down her face.

“You…you’re hurt,” he murmured, feeling like an idiot for stating something so obvious. 

Her eyes shifted to him once more, another tear running down her cheek, and he reached out, wiping it away and then pressing his hand to her side to try and stop the bleeding. The girl didn’t speak, only whimpered when he pressed against the wound on her side. 

“How did you even get up here?” He swore under his breath when her eyes fluttered shut, hands hovering before both of them pressed hard on the wound in her side. He didn’t have anything to help her. He didn’t have anything to press to her side or the needle and thread to sew the wound. He’d had plenty of training in medicine but he didn’t even have hot water. “Hey, no…wake up. Wake up!” he urged, shaking her gently, but there was nothing. No response. 

How could he even get her down? Could he get her to the palace in time.

And then he realized that something had changed. The wound wasn’t bleeding so much anymore. He shifted her shirt to the side, trying to get a look, and watched as the gash on her side began to knit itself together. “What…” 

He had no way to get her off the roof…didn’t even know how to get down himself without breaking his neck. So he sat at her side instead, pulling off his cloak and wrapping it around her. And for two hours, she slept uneasily, flinching in her sleep and trying to roll over before he placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her still. Then, when the sun was staring to go down, her eyes fluttered open, and she glanced first at the bread that had crumbled to dust in her hand, then at him. 

“Your Majesty,” she rasped. 

“Tony,” he introduced himself with a small, relieved smile. “People that save my life get to call me by my first name.” 

She cracked a smile, starting to sit up, then paused, slumping back down and pressing a a hand to her side. 

“Are you okay?”

“I will be,” she assured him, nodding. “Thank you. You didn’t have to…”

“You saved my life. Remember? I’m pretty sure I can get you a knighthood for that.” 

The girl gave a weak laugh. “Sir Spider?”

“Your name cannot be ‘Spider,’” he rebutted with a laugh of his own, reaching down to help her sit up. This time she managed it. 

“Penelope,” she told him softly, looking around as if someone might hear. On a roof. “Penny, sire. Sir.” 

“Just Tony is fine. You don’t have to call me sir. How old are you?” 

“I’m thirteen.” 

“Do you live on the streets?”

“My aunt and uncle…they died of the fever last winter.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, noticing how she watched him. How her eyes kept straying to the edge of the roof. “I won’t call the guard. I promise.” 

She glanced down at the bread with a wince, letting go of it for the first time, and he wondered how hungry she must have been. “I did steal it.”

“Do you think you can stand? I’ll buy you something to eat.”

“You don’t have to…” she started, shaking her head, but he waved a hand. 

“Consider it a thank you.”

“You already thanked me by saving my life, sir,” Penny reminded him, but Tony shook his head.

“I didn’t save your life. I sat by your side while you healed from a wound that would have killed you.” The girl lowered her eyes, flushing a little, and he knew then, somehow more than he’d known before, that he had to protect her. That he wouldn’t just leave her on the streets to fend for yourself. “Come. We’ll find lunch, and then I want to show you something.” She hesitated, and he gave a friendly pat on her shoulder. “That’s an order from your future king.”

Hesitating, the girl regarded him for a moment, then nodded, letting him pull her to her feet. He climbed down first, careful to get a good grip on the window ledge. Then she came down after, but as he watched in shock, she didn’t use the window ledges to ease herself down. Instead, she pressed her hands and feet to the sheer wall and climbed down like…like a spider! When she caught him staring, she flushed and ducked her head. 

“How did you do that?”

Penny shrugged. “I’ve always been able to…my aunt and uncle wanted me to keep it a secret. They said it wasn’t natural.”

It wasn’t, that was certain, but Tony wasn’t about to shame her for it. “I think it’s amazing,” he told her honestly, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, before we both starve. And make sure to call me “Tony” or you’ll give away my disguise.”

And that was how his Highness Tony Stark adopted a new ward who, two years later, would help him overthrow his traitorous uncle and take his rightful place as king.


End file.
